Good People at Syracuse Stage through May 12

Syracuse Stage anticipates good times for audiences with its Good People production.

David Lindsay-Abaires Tony Award-nominated play Good People tops the list of most produced plays nationwide during the 2012-13 season, according to the Theatre Communications Group, which is the theater industrys largest trade organization.

It opened at Syracuse Stages Archbold Theatre, 820 E. Genesee St., on Wednesday. It runs through May 12.

The original stage presentation of Good People premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. After opening on Broadway in 2011, it won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play and was nominated for a Tony Award for best play.

Before writing Good People, David Lindsay-Abaire received a Pulitzer Prize for Rabbit Hole, which was later adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Nicole Kidman. In addition, he wrote book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical, wrote for the animated movie Rise of the Guardians and co-wrote the screenplay for Oz the Great and Powerful.

The story concerns Margie, a single mother in South Boston who just lost her job. Shes behind in her rent and has zero prospects. With nowhere to turn, she seeks out Mike, an old friend, who got away from South Boston. Margies journey from her old neighborhood to the upscale Chestnut Hill is fraught with twists and other plot surprises.

Syracuse Stage is co-producing Good People with Cleveland Play House, which also staged it this spring.

A reviewer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote, Part of Good Peoples brilliance is that while the story is deceptively simple ... the psychological and emotional stakes are almost unbearably high.

The production of Good People features a cast of six: Tony-nominated Denny Dillon (as Dottie), who is an alumna of Syracuse University and 1980-81 cast member of NBCs Saturday Night Live; Patrick Halley (as Stevie), who recently appeared in The Taming of the Shrew with Denver Center Theatre Company; Kate Hodge (as Margie), whose television and film credits include The Following, Person of Interest, Blue Bloods and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III; David Andrew Macdonald (as Mike), who appeared on Broadway in Mamma Mia!, Coram Boy and Two Shakespearean Actors; Zoey Martinson (as Kate), who appeared in Alls Well That Ends Well and 365 Days/365 Plays at The Public Theatre in New York City; and Elizabeth Rich (as Jean), who most recently appeared off-Broadway in the world premiere of RX by Kate Fodor.

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Good People will have an accompanying exhibit in Syracuse Stages Coyne Lobby by Pittsburgh photographer Dylan Vitone and his South Boston Project. It is based on his research that found South Boston Still lived in the shadows of the 1970s racial riots it endured when the United States government tried to integrate South Boston schools. Mr. Vitones project found that South Boston developed its own identity.

The individuals living there turned to the community itself for strength. In the process they developed a sense of identity and pride that seems to be their own, Mr. Viton writes on his website.

the details of Good people

WHAT: Syracuse Stage presents Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire.WHERE: Archbold Theater, 820 E. Genesee St.WHEN: 3 and 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Sunday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. May 4, 2 and 7 p.m. May 5, 7:30 p.m. May 7 to 9, 8 p.m. May 10, 3 and 8 p.m. May 11 and 2 p.m. May 12.COST: Tickets range from $30 to $51 for adults but $30 for those age 40 and under and $18 for those age 18 and under.For ticket information, contact Syracuse Stage at 443-3275 or online at www.syracusestage.org.

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